The Braves announced today that they’ve placed southpaw Jonny Venters on the 10-day injured list. He’s dealing with a strained calf, though his struggles likely played a role in the timing. Venters made a miraculous return to the majors last year after five full seasons away owing to a brutal run of arm injuries. He pitched well enough to be tendered by the Atlanta organization. But Venters struggled this spring and has continued to do so through six regular-season appearances, over which he has surrendered six earned runs in just 2 2/3 innings.
More on the health front …
- A return is finally in sight for Angels DH (and once and future starting pitcher) Shohei Ohtani, who’s nearing readiness after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. As Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com was among those to tweet, the reigning Rookie of the Year had a promising medical check-up today. So long as nothing intervenes, he’ll begin taking cuts against live pitching early next week. It’s not hard to imagine Ohtani ramping up quickly from that point in time.
- Backup Cubs backstop Victor Caratini underwent surgery to repair his broken left hamate bone, as Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports on Twitter. That’s not surprising news, and doesn’t really modify his expected timeline. It’ll be about four to six weeks on the mend for Caratini, who’ll presumably need to ramp back up therafter and take at least a brief rehab stint. Even if all goes as hoped, it’s likely the Cubs ill go without him until June.
- The Blue Jays have some relief on the way with right-hander Ryan Tepera set to be activated in the next day or two, MLB.com’s Gregor Chisolm tweets. The elbow inflammation that put Tepera on the shelf to open the year has obviously not proven to be too big a concern, as the 31-year-old is ready to roll after just two minor-league rehab appearances. Tepera has been a solid pen piece for the Toronto organization, turning in 193 2/3 innings of 3.49 ball over the past four seasons.